she's been fighting the breast cancer fight for 30 years. >> peter: tomorrow we'll have all the primary election results. so we hope you join us tomorrow morning. now over to america's newsroom. breaking news from overseas this, woman here, an american hiker, held in iran in an iranian jail for more than a year, now said to be a free woman. an iranian attorney for syria s -- shourd confirming that fox news that iran has released its client, after arresting her and two companions last year, they've been held ever since, the three apparently crossing into iran, that's the allegation, while hiking in northern iraq. more on this in a matter of moments, it's just crossing the wires right now, it's breaking news here in "america's newsroom". in the meantime, this is battle royale, huh? a major battle shaping up over your taxes taking shape

on capitol hill, this the debate over whether or not to extend the bush tax cuts, pitting republicans again the president. good morning, everybody, it's a busy tuesday, huh? i'm bill hemmer, good morning, welcome to "america's newsroom". martha: good morning, bill, good morning, everybody. i'm martha maccallum. senate minority leader mitch mcconnell is standing firm, he says that democrats want higher taxes to extend government control over america's lives, this comes in response to president obama's plan to stay tough on those tax cuts for the higher end, those deemed to be, quote, the rich, >> good morning, i'm jon scott, i'll see you in less than 20 although though not minutes along with jenna lee who everybody in that bracket will talk with congressman chris feels that way. bill: mcconnell says he's van lonely and senator lindsey ready to fight the white house to make sure that no one, that no american, pays graham, some of the biggest higher taxes: movers and shake,in washington >> we can't allow this about the upcoming midterm administration to demand elections and is she a victim of that small business owners in this country pay for its sexual harassment or a own fiscal recklessness and provocatively dressed publicity hound? we'll ask the woman who is that's why i'm introducing accusing the -- who has been legislation today that ensures that no one in this involved in a case of reported country will pay higher income taxes next year than sex harassment, at the hands of the new york jets.

they are right now. we can't let the people who also, a predator caught near an have been hit the hardest by this recession and who need elementary school, we'll talk to create the jobs that will with the deputies who arrested get us out of it foot the bill for the democrats' the guy, an 8-foot alligator, two-year adventure in coming up on "happening now." expanded government. bill: there was a growing bill: jon, thank you, see you in number of democrats 17 minutes, breaking news from especially on the senate overseas, tel aviv, israel at side against the idea of the american embassy there, a raises taxes on anyone during the recession, and white powdery substance, you just heard from mitch apparently being investigated. not injury what it is, but also in tel aviv the spanish embassy mcconnell. chris stierwalt, mcconnell is involved in this debate received something similar and now. what's changing? so did the swedish embassy, and >> well, this is a game of it is breaking news, crossing election year chicken, par right now, hopefully, in the end it is nothing, but we wanted to make you aware of it. excellence, the white house coming off the wires out of tel is doubling down on a class warfare message that says aviv, moments ago. look, which people are going to pay more, people who earn martha: after more than a year more than two athousand dollars, which sounds like a of being imprisoned in iran, one lot of money, they're going to have to pay more to pay of the american hikers has now off the decifit, then the been released, the state news republicans come back and agency reported at this hour, say wait a minute, these are small business owners, most sarah shourd is a free woman and -- a lot of small will now travel to amman and businesses, anyway, pay will be reunited with her their taxes under that mother, what an amazing moment

bracket, you're going to hurt them, and if you raise that will be, joining me is taxes on anybody, you're going to take money out of judith miller of the manhattan the economy that's going to be spent, so republicans are institute and, a fox news contributor and we have a few united and determined that they are going to be the things to cover and first your party that opposes any sort react to the release and the fact they paid, it is confirmed, of tax increase. the white house is very by her attorney, paid $500,000, determined that democrats are going to be the party that's going to stick it to wealthier americans to a degree, just so that they that is unusual. can make the pitch to the >> very unusual. b because as we know the family said they didn't have that kind middle class that they're of money and the suspicion was fighting for them at the expense of wealthier voters. pointed at the state department bill: just to back up two saying the u.s. governments may have paid the money, but, days, john boehner weighed crowley, the spokesperson said into this on -- waded into the u.s. government does not post bail, and especially not this on sunday, what some with iran, with whom we don't have any kind of direct talks at say he was trying to do was this moment. but it is good news for her and to say he was not supporting it is worrisome for the two the middle class, that was his argument. >> it was very interesting how this all played out. young men. the minority leader in the martha: why? >> because the iran union house john boehner was asked a question, how, if all you government says they will be tried for treason and the could get, if you couldn't get all of the tax cuts negotiations of course will extended, would you vote for some of the tax cuts, and he continue, sarah's release is said i think that's a bad welcome news but i think we have to continue, to be concerned idea but i'll vote for any about the others. sort of tax cut that i can get and in a democratic martha: absolutely and good news house that is supermajority for the democratic party, for her family and she is there

doesn't have a filibuster, with her mother and, it could be doesn't have a way for a a tricky situation, and for small republican minority to block anything, boehner was them, and, judith, i want to go just sort of addressing the obvious. the white house and back to imam feisal abdul rauf democratic party jumped on that right away and said ah, and you were on the council of boehner is open to president foreign relation yesterday and you wrote a piece that says it obama's deal, but when you looks like things are unraveling get down to it and this sort for him. of back and forth between >> i think the sudden boehner and the white house willingness, after he's refused to make any kind of compromise and robert gibbs, the white at all, is a kind of -- to put house press secretary on the project on hold, if twitter, once that all goes away, you get back to the necessary, to delay construction fact that republicans are of the project. picking off democrats in the martha: no money, makes it easy senate and in the house, who to delay, right? say look, we don't think >> exactly. it's right to raise taxes on and, it is confined of "show me anybody, whether it is satisfying from a class versus class per inspective, the money" and it has been discovered it is hard to raise we can't do that during a money for such an ambitious recession, and so what you see in the senate and in the project if there are so many questions about it and him, that house both are the moderate democrats are stepping haven't been addressed. forward and saying hey guys, martha: and he said whatever is good in controversial things in there, november, we have to extend he suggested that it is not these tax cuts or we're hallowed ground. because it is near things like, going to create another recession. bill: in the meantime, at you know, strip clubs and a some point, this is going to betting parlor, and, many of come up for a vote before the fir of the year, which were there, before something is going to change. listen, there's brand new september 11th, and, we recently fox polling out on all these saw the map that showed where very close races, especially all of the remains were found,

on the senate side and the races for governor, we're at -- the fire department getting this from nevada, released and clearly it is close to that area. >> it may or may not be hallowed sharron angle, 45 percent, ground but it is hallowed to some people, and the fact that harry reid, 44 percent. that's too close to call at the moment in nevada. he has been insensitive to their we're going to have much more on this in our show. pain, raises questions about chris, thank you for that. news from washington and whether or not he is intent on breaking hot, right now. the bridge-building that he says he wants to accomplish. thank you chris. here's martha. martha: it is the final for me, that is now the real primary day of the midterm question. season, voters in seven is this going to be something that will heal or a center that states and the district of will be a continued source of columbia, head to the polls today. this is a big day, folks. friction, in a community that is and we have our eye on all already en -- that has endured a these races, of course, two lot of pain. martha: that is the question he big races we've been watching closely as you know. in delaware, the gop senate needs ask himself. >> they suggested that at the council and he didn't seem to be primary has become a willing to deal with that. martha: and charges are being fascinating story on the brought against him for apartment buildings he's republican side of the fence involved with in new jersey, and here. newcomer and tea party a number different things and backed christine o'donnell does it look to you, with your history of covering the story, running against washington insider mike castle, once a as if there are enough different pieces out there, combining against him, that will, you congressman and the governor of delaware as well. know, many people have said, the winner will move on for rudy giuliani said i don't think it will happen. the seat, joe bidden's seat, >> i think a lot of people are

against chris coons. let's take a look at new saying that and it would be sad hampshire, the senate gop primary where it's gotten if he's prevented from doing it very nasty, folks, in new and the other hand he had many opportunities to unite with the hampshire, four republican candidates up for a spot on people, who wanted to help him, that ballot, former attorney like governor david paterson, general kelly ayotte and who said, let's see if we can find an alternative, slightly bill beings, this one, also, less sensitive location, and you very much one to watch and know, in america, of course, he we'll lay all that out for you. it is, as we said, the final has the right to build on his primary day as we head into all of this. project -- >> and he said it could enflame for up to the minute news on the elections and races, get muslims overseas and would be a all the latest developments, bad move. don't you know, if you go >> he said he didn't intend it right to the palm of your hand and you can find that as a threat and in his personal when you download the new history there is nothing to suggest he's a terrorist and worked all of his life for america's election headquarters iphone app when tolerance and an interfaith you're online at the westbound site or shopping dialogue but the cluelessness at the app store. be on the know, be in the and the insensitivity to the suffering of the community and know, be like bill hemmer! the pain, is really surprising, it's not all a media plot to all right, well, here is something that you may not kind of help the republican know. party get elected which is what about 8 million workers, he was suggesting, yesterday, in his statements, and, especially american workers, receive disability benefits. in the q&a portion of them. now, here's the other thing martha: all right, judith you may not know. the number of people who miller, thank you very much. always good to see you. collect disability benefits >> good to see you. has actually tripled in the bill: judith, thank you.

good to get a perspective here, past 30 years, and that on some -- someone in the room, raises the question why would that be. that is causing a real too. >> and i was also for it and i'm strain, as you might imagine, on the u.s. economy now... really... bill: really. stuart varney is anchor of >> i am on the fence now. "varney & company" at the just because of questions about fox business network, he makes all of us a lot more him. i was very much for this knowledgable about these things when he comes to visit us. project, given his -- he went to good morning to you. >> good morning. martha: this is a big danny pearl's if you know rel and said, i am a jew, the bible problem. why would that number have tripled in 30 years? >> well, fir of all, when says, thou shalt not kill, and, you say it's a financial strain, that is an understatement, believe me. this is a huge financial you know how many... he needed problem for the social security system. these disability claims are -- paid for out of the money >> thank you, judith. that comes into social thank you very much. bill: we are getting stunning security. well, already, more money is pictures, by the way, from the flowing out of social california gas line explosion, security than is coming in, and caught on surveillance cameras by a nearby station so this spiking -- spike in claims has created a financially nonsustainable anders on tand situation, it adds directly to the decifit. the owner in a moment joins to and martha, a spike, it us tell us how he survived this, truly is. the number of claims went up to tell us, wow! 21 percent in '09, compared to '08. as you said, 8 million

people collect already this year. that costs $124 billion. again, flat out, financially, not sustainable. martha: why is it happen something i mean, why is that number going up so much? are people gaming the system? we've all seen the under cover investigative pieces where somebody says they're hurt and you see them doing all kinds of work and putting a new roof on their house. >> there is suspicion people are gaping the system. the rules of eligibility changed in the 19 # \on/zeros, mental illness is now a cause for disability, so is what's called muscular skel tap pain, as in back pain. mental illness, some degree, back pain, it's hard to disprove those claims, very hard to disprove them, so more and more people are -- in fact, more than half of all claimants are claiming mental disability or muscular skeletal disability. so that's the reason for this spike. and also, you've got a lot of desperate peep.

they come to their late 40s, early 50s, they're out of a job, can't get a new job, they're in desperation, got to get money, they claim disability. martha: i hear you. there was a time when nobody wanted to collect it and now it seems that some want to collect it who don't deserve it, and it really should be those that do. stuart, thank you, good to see you as always. bill: want to get back to this breaking news, learning a bit more, after days of waiverring, iran releasing one of the three u.s. hikers held in that country in a jail for more than a year. an iranian attorney saying that sarah shourd, confirming with fox news that she is now a free woman amy kellogg is watching this unfold in london. you've been in iran several times, amy, difficult story to gather information, difficult country to cover. what's the latest from what you can say from there? >> reporter: well, we did speak with sarah shourd's laura short while ago, he was in the car with her, he wouldn't pass the receiver over to her for reasons that we can well understand but

they were on their way from tehran, from prison, we believe to the swiss embassy, bill, because there is no u.s. embassy in iran. there hasn't been one there since the late '70s, early '80s. and the swiss represent american interests in tehran. so there will be no doubt a debrief there. we've heard sort of conflicting reports about what happens next, but her lawyer just went on bbc persia, a language tv, and said she will be leave via oman, again, no direct flights to the united states, so it's possible that she will be making that flight as early as this evening. but we don't have that firmed up yet, bill. bill: amy, when you do, come on back, okay? and if you reach the attorney again for her -- or her, we'll pet you back on tv. thank you, amy kellogg, on that story live from london. ten minutes past, martha. martha: he is back in the news, the iman behind the mosque near ground zero sparking pretty hot debate this morning over his recent comments. what he said about strip

malls and gaming parlors and what that has to do with what he wants to build down there. bill: also watch this videotape, terrifying moments, left side of your screen, from this gas station when their bill: we wants to share this neighborhood went nup california. more of this video. incredible new videotape that and we'll talk to the owner captured the horrific blast in of the gas station today on san bruno, california, footage what it looks like now. wow. from a cass statigas station th martha: well, the new york jets, tackling kind of a screen left the terrifying moments when the gas line touchy story, you might say, that landed some players and exploded. you will see in a moment the the team's coach in a bit of cars that are at the station, hot water, over this woman, take off immediately, understandably, so, and, then from mexico, a sports reporter there, and the all of the cars at the alleged bad boy behavior on intersection, looks like they are confused, some of them, and the field. we're going to hear what she others see the flames in the air is saying about all of this now. and make a u-turn and bolt out of there. also on the camera, we can see a >> a lot of media say it's woman carrying her child across my fault, that i provoke the street, running as fast as with my clothes and everything, so i said okay, it's a pair of jeans, a she can. the owner of the gas station is white blouse, is it with me now, and, sir, good provocative? morning to you. all the women are provocative because it's first of all, your employees and you and your family, are you very common to dress like this. okay. >> caller: we are all okay,

thank god. bill: thank god, indeed and you have seen the videotape, you were at home at the time and you had employees at your store, when you watch this... what description can you provide? >> caller: panic. total chaos. some people were running for their lives and then you see other people running into the fire, perhaps they had a home or a loved one, you know, trying to go and save, perhaps, and so it was total chaos. bill: interesting, must blow your mind and your gas station, believe it or not, did not have any damage. but, there is the woman, coming across the street with her young child and what about the neighborhood? these are your customers. >> caller: those are my customers and most of them, i know them personally and they have been to my gas station, one time or more and most of them, i know them by name, as a matter of fact. so, yeah, they were all close friends. bill: good luck to you, okay?

it certainly got our attention and i'm glad to see you are doing all right. thank you, sir and best of luck to you and the folks out there in san bruno, california. >> caller: thank you, sir. bill: 6 minutes before the hour, the pictures from that... all right. a few minutes away, a special guest from the white house will be joining the chief economic advisor to vice president joe biden, here to lay out the administration's plan to turn an end the economy, can they do it ahead of the crucial midterms? that ills a tall order. jerry burnstein will weigh in on that, next. this is it, the final days of our summer sales event

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bill: more reaction today to the imam behind that proposed mosque near ground zero drawing criticism today t. stems from remarks he made about this time yesterday on the planned location of the islamic center. heresy in new york. listen carefully: >> first of all this is disingenuous, as many have said that that block is hallowed ground, many people have educated and taught and tried to teach the public that, you know, with the strip joints around the corner, with betting parlors, to claim it is hallowed ground, it's hallowed ground in one sense, but you know, it doesn't add. so let's clarify that misperception. bill: that was just part of the speech yesterday. president of the american islamic forum for american democracy, welcome back to "america's newsroom". he calls it disingenuous.

what do you say? >> you know, bill, i can't tell you how frustrating this is. and i think offensive. as a muslim, our faith teaches us, my parents taught me, to be humble, to listen to the community, and heresy continuing to lecture americans about what they consider or do not consider to be hallowed ground. i can tell you, is this really for him to decide? he needs to step down from the lens which he continually looks through, a narcissistic lens where everything is through the eyes of muslim, victimology, rather than through the lens of being an american, first bill: just to let our and foremost, and only an viewers at home what we're american, and that's why getting skwhraoeupb, we this has really hit a chord asked to you vote and boy, and i think this issue of did you ever! what is and what is not twenty-four thousand votes in about an hour and 30 hallowed ground is really going to show exactly the minutes. true colors, those that look that's about health care, at the pit of devastation you support repealing the health care law, 98 percent that we lost our loved ones, say yes, look at that, and look at the eyes of a 23,965 votes. child and tell them they lost their parents on 9/11 at the moment. and that isn't hallowed martha: which way would you ground because of what the say that's leaning? character of that community, bill: by the way, that

the buildings next to it, relates to the court case was? i mean, that's just -- that's underway in the state >> bill: that was one of florida where 20 states comment he made, then he went on to talk about have come together, muslims as being victims of consolidated their argument together against the federal government and they'll have it out today in front of the minority persecution in america. judge. martha: that's going to be he brought up jews and an important decision. catholics and irish and a credit card scam gets italians, blacks and hispanic, and then he said taped. a group of thieves in ohio went on a shopping spree it is our turn as muslims to after she stole a grandma's drink from this cup. purse, you can see the guys you're muslim. grabbing whatever they want do you agree? at kmart. >> bill, this is going to craziness. kmart. become the issue of the boy they throw it all on the who cried wolf. counter. this is not the right time here's the twist. after they asked for i.d., for us as muslims to be one of guys showed her i.d. complaining about islam and she swiped it, all done, complete, police are now on the search for these guys. islamaphobia. bill: don't think that was we built mosques in this an inside job, do new dare one. -- in this country. we not say that. dare we to take an open wound and say this, something fishy poor salt into it, and happening in asia. saying this is a react of calf of the day uses muslim, the phobia is an projectiles at protests irrational fear, when in across taiwan, japan and fact i think americans are legitimately afraid of an china, demonstrators hurling bait at police and riot ideology that imams like this don't want to address. gear. that will get their they use islam phobia as a attention. they're protesting over crutch to avoid the internal disputed islands in the east work of reform that we need china sea, all three nations

to do, and as a result, claim a part of those because americans don't see islands, along with the right to fish there. us leading the charge to hence the reason for the might the ideas of political flying fish. martha: take that flounder! islam, sharia law and other things that are pervasive and lead to a slippery slope carp there's grouper! bill: coming your way. of radicalism, they start to be concerned. martha: it's but the reality is, i haven't seen islam phobia significantly and he's using it as a crutch to avoid the reality of the false lens of the spiritual narcissism that he's thr-g through -- he's looking through. bill: is that also the rely that americans need to move the moving because the site would incyte muslims overseas and incyte more violence there and here at home? >> bill, that's just another crutch, in that it also shows that the purview in that this person, this imam, is not a leader, is not somebody of moral courage, in that we don't negotiate with terrorist, we don't determine what is or is not hallowed ground or areas we come together as americans, not as a point of what we

want to put forth as muslims and then say oh, we're going to be afraid of the terrorists. i mean, we stand for principles and true rists aren't afraid what happens as a result. we'll deal with it, the military will deal with it, but we don't bow to threats of violence and that's the message he should be issuing ago a muslim leader. bill: appreciate your perspective. doctor, thank you for being with us this morning, martha. martha: well, a reporter shows up for an interview, but apparently got a bit more than she bargained for. listen to this: >> when i arrived to the loco room, everybody starts to make jokes and everything about me. i tried to not pay attention to that, because i was focused on my job. martha: all right, well, that was the issue that she was harassed by members of the new york jets. more on that. we're are getting the latest now from the team, and you'll want to hear that. bill: also it is a significant day in the fight over the president's health care overhaul. there are 20 states arguing this law is

unconstitutional. what will the judge say, and what will you say, huh? martha: i want to hear what you say! do you support repealing the health care law? log into the website, foxnews.com/"america's newsroom".

martha: penalty flags flying even before the kickoff on this one, new york jets owner woody johnson reportedly apologizing to mexican sports floor the stands, seen here on the job. it's all about the fact that players and coaches treated her she says poorly at a recent practice. mike gilliam with wwor has the story: >> you know, initially she didn't think anything was wrong when passes continued to come near her as the jets practiced saturday even

though she heard giggles and comments. >> in this moment i believe that it's only a joke, i don't even pay attention. >> do you ever feel as if there was anything sexual about it, though? >> i can't say sexual about in the field, really, no. >> she claimed the jets coaches and players made the comment and the story took off when her colleagues heard what was going on. she says she's been a sports reporter for nearly a decade but also holds two masters degrees and is a lawyer and television producer. >> hello. >> at the super bowl in 2008, she seemed to have no problem cozying up to the players, in this instance, she says she feels she was dressed appropriately in jeans and button-up blouse. >> it's a pair of jeans, a white blouse with bottoms. is it provocative? all the women are provocative. >> to be dressed like that, coming to a practice facility, she brought it on herself. >> she's are professional athletes, they should have acted professionally. >> the incident has prompted

investigations by the jets and nfl while women in journalism say there's an important line reporters shouldn't cross. >> if you're standing there and you're not being giddy and annoying and looking appropriately, and i figure you're going to be taken much more seriously. >> sainz says she isn't angry, not lube for publicity and has already received an an apology from the jets. martha: that was mike gilliam reporting and sainz will speak out on "happening now". we got into a debate over it. it's a very hot topic and we'll see what she has to say. bill: keeping my mouth shut. martha: i know you are! >> bill: years ago i used to be a sports reporter in cincinnati. martha: and you wore stuff like that all the time! >> bill: wait until you see the pictures on that. i the bengals when they were home and away and we had a coach, sam weish and he was leading this charge where he wanted to keep reporters, male or female, out of the locker room for a certain period of time until the

guys could shower and get dressed. martha: that's totally understandable. bill he was denied by the league, then he went to a new system where he would set all curtain in the locker room to keep the reporters on one side and the players on the other. he failed on that front, too. i haven't been to a locker room in a long time in the nfl, i don't know what the rules are today but this issue has been ongoing. martha: i say she is wear what she wants, nobody has the right to harass her, end of story, and if her -- if the company she works for is okay with what she wears, she employ her, she keep employing her, that's between her and her place of employment. bill: if she was harassed, the players and coach are wrong. she should also understand the atmosphere in which she is working. martha: and we'll let you read into it what you want on that one! bill: four days and counting, folks, and the race is tied up in the mid terms. brand new fox polls on harry reid, marco rubio, carly for ina, who is neck and neck and who is pulling ahead? only minutes away on that

here on "america's newsroom". martha: take a look at this thing, don't you want one of these? this could be the next high-tech tool on the battlefield, folks. this is a pretty exciting development. one company says this motorized skateboard, basically, could save a soldier's life. we're going to ask a former cia agent how he evaluates this and how it might work in the battlefield in real situations. we'll be right back.

bill: it's 9:30 in new york and this is a big day. at the top of the hours, 30 minutes from now, in a federal courthouse in florida, 20 states will be squaring off against the justice department, the federal government making the case as to why their national lawsuit against the new health care law should continue. phil keating is watching this, he's live outside the federal courthouse in pensacola. twenty attorneys general will argue that the affordable care act is against the constitution. the argument on their behalf in simple terms, phil, is what? >> reporter: it's pretty much two pronged here, bill. keep in mind the 20 attorneys general will be joined in the courtroom here today, u.s. district court n. pensacola, by the largest small business lobby in the united states, the national federation of independent business.

they say two points in primary issue here are the 2-crud issues as to why they say the affordable health care act is unconstitutional. the one, it forces the states to then expand medicaid programs which they say is a states rights versus federal argue which they feel they have the power to prevail and secondarily, the health care reform act, signed into law march 23rd by president obama, of course, requires all uninsured americans today by the year 2014 to then have health insurance. they find that to be an unnecessary intrusion on their individual liberty by the federal government, because the argument here by the attorneys general is that's not engaging interstate commerce, effectively deciding not to buy health insurance, however, the department of justice will be arguing today that actually, it is entirely in article i, the tax and spend clause of the u.s. constitution, because

somebody choosing not to buy health care is eventually going to acquire health care and that means they'll end up in emergency rooms with those costs being applied to the other americans through higher premiums. bill bell i mentioned 20 states. this spans the country. why is this happening in pensacola? >> reporter: well, attorney general bill mccollu ph-frplt here in florida was the first to actually file this lawsuit and it happened basically within an hour of the president signing it into law. he was immediately joined by 13 oerpbs attorneys general, later joined by entirely 19 total other attorneys general. however, dan gelber, the democrat run to go replace attorney general bill mccollum in the november election, he's arguing that as are all the supporters of the obama health care reform here, this is entirely constitutional, the argument against it is simply playing pure politics, and their arguments have no legal merit. bill: phil, thank you. >> this is the fundamental issue, 20 states joined, and

every attorney general, every governor involved in this, thinks that this is unconstitutional. >> reporter: quickly, this is the department of justice 's appeal to dismiss this lawsuit on the grounds of no legal merit. it's going to be on in two hours, a very important legal argument and the judge will make his decision in a couple of days or a couple of weeks but most think this will end up in the supreme court. bill: i thank you twice now! phil keating, from florida. thank you. our burning question, do you support repealing the health care law. foxnews.com/"america's newsroom", simple yes or no and we'll let you know the results in a matter of moments. by the way the lines are burning up on that question now. martha. martha: there's a question, do these 20 states argueing this case against the new health care law and whether or not it's constitutional, do they have a good case? let's bring in fox judicial analyst, judge andrew napolitano. this is going to be very interesting.

how strong is the case they're bringing before this federal judge today? >> i think it's a very strong case because it's one that's never been heard by the courts before. congress has regulated anything from the amount of wheat you can grow in your back yard to the strength of the water flow in your shower to the number of legs on the chairs in your home under the commerce clause, has never used the commerce clause power to say you must purchase a product that you don't want to purchase. when the same lawsuit was filed in virginia, by the attorney general of virginia, ken keusch cuccinelli, that's been on your show, a federal judge in virginia appointed by a democratic president said when the government tried to dismiss the case, you know what, the attorney general of virginia is right, congress has never done this before, she have a -- they have a very strong argument to say it doesn't have this power, i'm not going to dismiss the indicate -- the case. so the passer in florida, a lawsuit, joined by 19 other

states, the federal government doesn't reply with an answer, it replies with an appeal to dismiss the lawsuit so, the judge will only dismiss the lawsuit if there's no legal basis for it whatsoever. there is. martha: will it be let's move on to the next step? >> correct. the next step will then be a legal analysis of the history of the commerce clause and whether the constitution was written to give congress this kind of power. for example, suppose the congress declares that the sun causes skin cancer. that would be a reasonable statement to make. can it forcetous wear hats? that's the type of argument that will be made. martha: but that is more to me like the shower argument than it is like the you must buy this argument. it seems to me that there's a reasonable argument, that it's unnatural to force someone to take money out of their pocket and purchase something if they say i don't want to buy it. >> it's not only unnatural, it's unconstitutional. the constitution was not written to give the federal

government power to tell us how to spend our money. it can taxus, it can regulate the speed limit, it can regulate the flow of water, but it can't tell us you have to buy a product that you don't want to buy. that's what this federal judge will have to decide. martha: i have to go but i want to squeeze in one more question. is it more powerful when we get to the point where one individual says no, one individual stands in front of the tank, so to speak, and says i'm not going to pay for this, i'm not going to buy it? >> that's the beauty of the declaration of the independence which reminds us we have natural rights. the majority can't force the minority to violate our natural rights even if it's a minority of one. so if it's wrong for the congress to force us to buy health care, then one person can object. martha: fascinating. we'll see where it goes. judge, thank you very much, judge andrew napolitano, weighing in on a big case we're watching this. we know you're very interested in this because we're getting a ton of responses. so here's the question of the day, do you support repealing the health care law? many of you have already let

us know. weigh in there and take a look. 97.87 percent say yes, they are for repealing the health care law. this is not a story that's going away, folks. this is going to keep bubbling all the way through. bill: we mentioned this poll, 20 minutes ago. martha: right. bill: right now, 6000 people have gone online and voted. and in 20 or 25 minutes. so -- >> martha: people are very fired up about this. bill: this might be a new record by the end of our program, 11:00 a.m. martha: thank you. bill thank you martha. quick check of the markets, 22 minutes before the hour, the dow giving back a little, almost ten minutes into trading, off 30 points. decent day up yesterday, up 81 points at the close. i'll watch the markets for you and let you know how we go up, or down, together. martha: today is the final round of primaries, before we get into the big stuff, in the november mid-term elections. so there's a lot to be decided today, gop helping

to snag seats long held by democrats. take a look at delaware, for example. we have new poll numbers to show you in some of the big states out there, as we head towards the general election, and we're going to show those to you and how they pan out. bill: quite revealing, too. check out this photo. you are not seeing things. this alligator is cuffed. how police pulled off this feat.

martha: the sheriff's deputies slapping the handcuffs on an unusual suspect, you might say, in florida, the crossing guard noticed this 7-foot long alligator and it was lounging near a school yesterday morning. imagine seeing that on your way to school, kids. so she called in the deputies who managed to not only rope the big guy but for some reason they felt they should also put handcuffs on! bill: just to make sure! martha: if they handcuffed him behind his back, that would be a good trick.

the alligator put up a good fight, the tail strike thank stucco wall while he thrashed around. let's listen: >> as he was moving, he lased it, once he did that, he started spinning, tired himself out, then we put the handcuffs on, and it's not going to get far. we are trained to deal with gators, generally on a smaller size, the three, four footers are easy to deal with. martha: anybody who knows out to deal with gators out of the water is these guys, they seem to have to do it quite a bit. florida wildlife took care of the gator. maybe he was trying to go to school! just saying. bill: just saying. a bit later here, we'll show thaw gator's mug shot! during the booking photo. voters heading to the polls, seven states holding primaries today. we won't get the results until later today but we have brand new fox polling just out this hour showing

some of the tight races shaping up to the big election come november, some 50 days from now. richard goodstein, local consultant, former adviser to hillary clinton for president, good morning to you and phil musser, former senior adviser to minnesota governor tim palenty, good morning to you. i'll break it down, going to the america west, in nevada, it's neck and neck between harry reid and sharron angle, our polling shows this race is too close to call, 45-44 angle over reid, the other senate race out there, barbara boxer and carly fiorina are neck and neck again, boxer, 46 percent, you'll see in a moment, there you are, fiorina, at 44 percent, a difference of two points there. phil? it shapes up how to you, based on that? >> it shapes up pretty good to me, based on that. look, the stunning numbers behind this are really the president's job approval in those states, at all-time

record lows, the economy is in rough shape in nevada and the issue is into that you've got majority leader harry reid's son, rory reid, running against a republican, brian sandoval in the gubernatorial contest and what it those is strong gubernatorial candidates in an environment favorable for republicans, so there's a strong likelihood that sandoval voters are goo will stick with angle, it's unclear if the flip will be the same for people coming up for rory reid. it's going to be a very close race in nevada and in california, again, close, but atmospherics favor republicans. bill: meg whitman is up six points over jerry brown in the race for governor. rick, how do you see what we saw in nevada and california on the screen? >> i think the news is actually why aren't numbers worse for democrats, given where the economy is and kind of the broad atmospherics that kind of

suggest this is going to be year when the public is not happy. bill: but california has always been democratic. >> it has been. but -- >> bill: in nevada, should sharron angle be up there? >> california has had republican governors, we have an incumbent iran governor there, ronald reagan was a rather notable one, so sharron angle, let's talk about that. i think one of the reasons frankly that nevada is a winnable state for harry reid and that there are other states like kentucky and others we can touch on, that are winnable for democrats right now is because the tea party candidates are staking out ground that the public is not simply comfortable with and it's a reminder, when you hear about medicare and social security or even newt gingrich about obama and kenya, it's a reminder to voters, it's like oh yeah, are we going to buy into that craziness again? i don't think so. so that's why i think the polls are not quite as locked in as they have been. bill: you wond ner local issues and the economy how big an impact that's going

to play, especially the local level. i want to show you two more polls, gentlemen. i'm tight on time. in florida, marco rubio, has a firm lead over the two challengessers in that race, it looks like charlie crist is splitting the vote. in pennsylvania, this is a stunner, republican is up six points over sestak. remember when all the counties around philadelphia were going toward democratic? are they now shifting back toward the republicans that would give toomy at least at this point, anyway, in our polling a significant lead? >> well, there are -- a couple of things going on. fist of all pat has been running a terrific campaign, the message is cripps, talking about issues near pennsylvania voters, the fact is more democrats got registered in the state in 2008, but pat is performing strongly in all parts of the state. the other issue, going back to the previous things that i mentioned, tom corbett, attorney general from pittsburgh, two

gubernatorial candidates, both from pittsburgh, turnout likely to be higher than there. there's noun on the ballot in philadelphia in respect to a congressional candidate. sestak is from the seventh, north and outside manchester county so there's not a machine energized in the philadelphia inner city. that's not good news for theand is one of the reasons that pat is leading. bill: richard? >> i apologize about that. i'm out of time, but i want to get richard one last comment. what about the way that phil is analyzing that, do you see it the same way? >> pat has run a campaign that's -- his message is swift, and the fact that he's not known statewide and that he's only six points behind is actually something where he's very much in this game and the fact, there's 1.3 million more democrats than republicans in pennsylvania. could be a value -- salvation. he was way behind specter in this campaign and beat him rather handily. bill: i pushed both of you gentlemen, i apologize about

that. thank you, gentlemen. fox news.com, a lot more polling numbers, state by state. check it out now. martha. martha: thanks bill. well, president obama, going back to school. but there's a controversy surrounding this year's visit. wait until you hear who it's coming from. bill: plus, this could be the latest must have tool for our troops in the battlefield, what do you think about that, huh? we'll show you how this bad boy can work and ask an expert if it might be worth investing in. also, 10,000 votes and climbing. what do you think about repealing health care? foxnews.com/"america's newsroom", you can vote during the commercial, you can weigh in during the commercial, and martha and i are back after the commercial, in three minutes.

martha: what do you get when

you cross a state board with a tank? something maybe a little like this. it's called the d tv shredder, a new take on the all terrain vehicle, the company behind it is pitching it as a must have vehicle for soldiers in the war zone. let's get an opinion on that. we bring in former cia officer and ceo of the global security firm xpg international, jimmy smith, welcome, good to have you with us. >> good to be back. martha: it looks pretty cool, buzzing around there, and it looks like something a lot of kids might want to get their hands on. is it something you think would be good for soldiers? >> well, i think it's an overall -- overall it's got potential but there are things that you probably won't to adjust here. i mean, you've got a guy with gear on, ammunition and weapons, going to be weighing around 300 pounds, 6-foot tall average and now he's on a 2-foot tall piece of gear riding around, it's an 8-foot target for somebody to shoot at. so maybe the man's version may not be the best approach, but it also comes

in an unmanned variety where you can get rid of the handle bars and i think you're going to show it in a minute, it will tow, you can tow things. it pulls up to 700 pounds. so if you were to put like a camera on this thing and some sensor equipment, you would be able to use it for something like a law enforcement application, in a s. w. a.t. environment, or even bomb disposal technician could use this to approach suspected u.i.d.s. martha: jamie, right now, it's an unmanned version, it's pulling out, you know, a dummy that is in for an injured soldier. what about that application of getting the wounded away from the dangerous area? >> yeah, i mean, you can use it for rescue and recovery, you could also use it for logist calorie supply operations if you needed to ferry in ammunition, you know, food, things like that so it's got some application. but i think it's got some work that needs to be done before. it's kind of a pie in the

sky idea right now. i think that you're going to put soldiers on these things and they're going to be racing around the battlefield -- because again, you want to stay low and move slow, you don't want to be up in the air, 8 feet tall, trying to balance 300 pounds of gear, and you know, so i think that application may be -- maybe no, but the unmanned vehicle, the ubg part, you got something there. martha: and you have to worry about injuries as well as a result of being on this thing, i would imagine. since it's new, you think of skate boards and other things that kids ride, they fall off them all the time. >> right. you don't want to hit the ground with 300 pounds on your body going 30 miles an hour. the other thing about it is i believe it weighs about 160 pounds. so you know, a light unit is not going to necessarily be carrying this thing around in a backpack. you know, it's going to have to be ferried in on something like a humvee or some other vehicle is going to have to bring this thing in. but overall, you know, it's got the potential, it's an innovative step forward. you know, if it allows you

to pull the troops out of unnecessary risk in some fashion, then it's got some merit. just need to investigate it a little more, maybe make some tweaks to it. martha: we're all for that, anything that helps our men and women do the job easier, safer, if it can be used that way is a great thing. jamie, thank you very much, good to get your insight on it. bill: this weekend we could try that out and maybe give it a test run. martha: we could do that. bill: see what you think. we are only moments away from a critical meeting among democrats on the bush tax cuts. some of these democrats threatening to bolt the party line. we are live on capitol hill with a full report on that, moments away. martha: and a witness to disaster. new video. wait until you see that, of that deadly gas line explosion. it looks like something out of a movie, but it's not. it's san bruno, california, just a few feet from a gas station, of all places. the station's owner is going to speak to us about what it looked like from there, next.

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martha: a hot one, folks, debating the bush tax cuts, on capitol hill. a key senate meeting is getting underway, as we speak. lawmakers in the house, gathering later today, republicans and democrats, bickering over who should get a break, from the tax man when january 1 rolls around and who should start paying a whole lot more, how we start a brand new hour of "america's newsroom," glad to have you with us, i'm martha maccallum. bill: good morning, i'm bill hemmer, senate majority leader harry reid sitting down with democrats looking to extend the bush tax cuts, only for the middle class, and some democrats, especially on the senate side, indicating they want to extend the tax cuts, for all americans. james rosen is listening in as best he can live on the hill, james, good morning. >> reporter: bill, good morning to you. it is a question here of whether the two parties each have all of their members lined up, and the republicans, minority leader mitch mcconnell doesn't have to

indicate yet just how his members would vote and how many noses he can count. for all the talk about whether to extent the bush-era tax cuts and to which, upper, middle, lower income brackets the democrats have not introduced be a an actual bill an lawmakers expect they have three weeks to get something done before the midterm election, really kick in and before these tax cuts at year's end expire, promises to be the last great legislative battle of the legislative session, with all of the posturing and maneuvering that that entails, here is how the two party leaders on the senate floor, yesterday, framed the debate. >> people in nevada and throughout the nation are too busy keeping track of the business's books or the family's budgets to keep track of who is scoring political points. they are not interested in the events, they are simply desperate for us to do our jobs and that is to help create jobs. . >> we can't let the people hit hardest by the recession and

need to create the jobs that will get us of out it, foot the bill for the democrats' two year adventure in expanded government and allow america's job creators to pay for democrats out of control spending over the past two years, any more than we can allow main street to pay for the greed of wall street. >> reporter: democratic lawmakers and president obama say if we extend the bush-era tax cuts to the upper income brackets, the top two% of earners in american economy, it will add an extra $700 billion to the deficit, republicans say if you exclude those upper income brackets, it will torpedo any attempt at job creation, in the american economy. bill: quickly, does harry reid have his work cut out for him on the senate side and trying to get democrats to back what he wants? >> reporter: he does, indeed, so often when one party controls congress, bill and it doesn't enjoy a super majority, it means -- the drama becomes an intra party affair and, we have two

faces you ought to keep an eye on, ben nelson, democrat of nebraska, busted his party on health care and the elena kagan nomination for the supreme court and thinks the bipartisan bill could emerge and suggested he might filibuster legislation that doesn't include those upper income tax brackets and he personally doesn't believe a bill that will do that will make it to the senate floor and joe lieberman, independent of connecticut and caucuses with the democrats and suggested he might be willing to go lang with a bill excludeing the upper income brackets. plenty to watch. bill: sure is, interesting, james rosen, thanks, on the hill now. martha. martha: you heard it, out there, democrats want to extend the tax cuts, only to the middle class, and republicans especially senate minority leader mitch mcconnell, out spoken, right now, saying it really has to be, in his opinion, all, including the rich or nothing. and, former new york senator al dimato joins me to weigh in on that, having spent many years in the building, good to have you

here. >> nice to be with you. martha: mitch mcconnell says we need all of this and everybody to not get a tax increase on january 1st. how likely do you think he is to get that. >> he has a chance. notwithstanding that the democrats have huge margins in both the senate and the house, a number of them are beginning to see the discontent, people have, and, actually, contempt they have, arrogance of congress and spending and this is really being pushed by the president, because he wants to set up, i'm for the little guy, and, no to the rich guy, class warfare obama's team is waging. and i think a lot of house democrats as well as the two democratic senators have expressed reservation. it is a chance to hold it up. it's not good for the economy, most economists say, by the way, it is $200,000, for an individual, $250,000, for

working couples is not a lot and you have to understand, about 40% of them, are small businesses. that are incorporated, that will be hit. this is the wrong time to do it. so, the obama's played political theater, and, this is a heck of a battle, and, i think it is a toss-up right now. martha: we heard james rosen reporting about senator ben nelson, he may be looking for a compromise bill to create, as a lot of people in the new york area and probably other places in the country when they look at the 250,000 number, know that people who are at that level, not necessarily feeling rich in some parts of the country, right? do you see a compromise where that number, that dollar figure gets moved significantly higher and that people above that area continue to pay the same -- >> two things, that is a real possibility, moving that number up to about 400,000. the second possibility is to extend it for a year.

in other words, make the bush cuts permanent, for the lower brackets, and, give a year or two years to the upper brackets so you can see what the economy does. >> what does the president do? if he's presented with' bill that allows, let's say, to allow them, for everybody, at least, for one or two years, what do you think he'll do? >> i think, good politics on his part and good government in this case would say, okay. we'll hold the tax increase up for a year or two years, on the upper incomes, and we'll let them stay and he can claim victory and i don't know if he has the political acumen his predecessor had. clinton had the ability, the democratic predecessor, to operate that way. obama so far has not shown that inclination, i'm going to fight and do it my way, and if he does, he's going to go down as the guy who really wants class warfare and people are beginning to see through this. in other words, i'm going to get

the rich guy. we don't need this deficit, and of course most people in the -- economists say, wait, you want to stop the deficit, cut down on spending, don't raise taxes. >> interesting, senator, thanks for being with us. >> good to be with you. bill: 7 minutes past the hour, and there are new concerns, now as investigators try to figure out how a two-and-a-half foot wide pipe in northern california ruptured and torched one home after another, experts raising red flags saying there were thousands of pipes just like it across the country. folks in san bruno, obviously understandably, worried. >> what if the pipeline is out there? you know, do testing on all the lines? that doesn't satisfy me, objection? because, it is still running through the neighborhood. under my house, and there are areas of the pipe that you cannot access. so, how good is the test? if the test -- you know, the pipe that blew up, okay, it was

already spewing out gas smell. bill: we've heard that from neighbor of the neighbor, claudia cowan is back in the neighborhood, san bruno, california, bring us up-to-date today, what is happening, claudia? >> reporter: 84 homes behind me remain evacuated and yesterday those property owners got a chance to go in and see what was left, and in many cases there wasn't anything left, in fact, 37 homes here are gone. and those who lost everything are getting an array of assistance including hotel rooms an rental cars and now, access to serious money, pacific gas & electric, the local power company responsible for the pipeline that exploded thursday night, setting aside $100 million, to help those victims recover. bill? bill: there was a community meeting last night, i imagine it might be the first of many. what was said there, claudia? >> reporter: actually, it was the second community meeting, since the disaster occurred, bill. dozens of residents gathered last night to meet with local lawmakers and city officials to try to get answers, but, bill,

clearly, many are not getting the assurances they want, their neighborhood is safe, or, that this kind of accident can happen again and that anyone will be held accountable here. many residents say they are angry at pg&e saying they had no idea the high pressure gas line was running beneath their homes and wonder if it will be rebuilt, in the very same spot and officials with the company saying they may consider moving that line, but, the repair job is getting underway, bill as state and federal lawmakers are calling for tougher inspections and better oversight of the often aging pipelines, not just here in california, but across the country, as well as much better communication with residents. bill: now that all has been exposed. claudia cowan, thank you, back in san brouno, northern california, there is new videotape of the explosion, if you haven't seen it, left side of your screen, a gas station, a few hundred feet away caught the blast on its camera. we'll talk to the owner of the

station and take a closer look at how the dramatic video plays out and the cars running down the street at the time, how they react and a mother taking her child across the street, you'll see it all, in moments on america"america's newsroom." martha: the first "fox news alert" for you, we're following this developing story, and is a big one out of iran, this morning, at this hour, an american hiker, one of the three, who had been held in iran, for over a year, is now, we can confirm, a free woman. she's currently at the swiss embassy, her lawyer, sarah shourd's lawyer, says that she was released on a bail of $500,000, which is a highly unusual situation. in this kind of hostage situation to have a payment made. at the end of it, $500,000, her lawyer asked to have it lowered or forgiven and according to him it was not and the iran judiciary says the detention of

shane bauer and josh fattal has been spend extended two months, they were accused of illegally crossing the border and spying and the bauer and fattal families, must be on pins and needings, waiting for information. martha: and a packed plane plummets from the sky, at least 15 people were dead on impact. but, there is a miracle, emerging from this smoldering wreckage. bill: also, the smallest state in the country under one of the nation's biggest political battles you'll find today. it is primary today in delaware. >> not celebrating yet, encouraged and hopeful but not celebrating yet. >> i actually have a conservative voting record as far as finances are concerned. in congress, and while moderate, on the social issues. bill: in that race the tea party takes on a mainstream republican. we are live on the ground in

wilmington, to see how this one will play out in minutes. martha: within to watch and he wants to be the governor of california, but democrat jerry brown may have bitten a big hand that feeds him, why he's already backpedaling, a jab at former president bill clinton, a good one, folks! we'll be right back. ♪ ♪ are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement

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bill: big day, today, everybody, 15 minutes past the hour, 7 states' primary race today, what will happen here, when i show you, right now on the big board behind us here, america's election headquarters, and the races for the senate so far this year, there are 36 different races across the psychiatry, all shown here in yellow, the one

we're focusing on at the moment is the state of delaware, delaware is get the attention of the nation, and, o'donnell is the republican, and coons is the democrat and vice president joe biden, in fact, from the state of delaware, not sure how the race is going to go but go back to 2008, less than 24 months ago, barack obama, against john mccain, obama won it easily, over mccain, and in this race it was almost 2-1, 62% for president obama, and, only 37% for john mccain. and, where does that leave us today? just about everybody in the country is watching and so are we... carl cameron has been camping out. hey, carl, good morning to you, live in wilmington, delaware, set the stage, as best you can. >> reporter: i tell you what, bill, the stage has one of the candidates, mike castle, the

congressman running for the senate in the background and is about to go to the voting place, three blocks away from his house and the republican senate primary is undeniably the biggest test of tea party versus the establishment we have seen yet. only a two-and-a-half week battle between mike castle and christine o'donnell, and in which the tea party express organization, from northern california dropped a quarter of a million dollars in ads, and essentially to beat castle, and to elect christine o'donnell, and the tea party express argues she's the true conservative, and mr. castle doesn't even argue that he is a conservative and says he's a moderate republican and has been, over the years, had a voting record that made him one of the most liberal republicans in the u.s. house, and, delaware is a tiny state, turnout here today will be frankly for delawareians, traditionally embarrassing. and in this state of nearly a million people, you will only have 30,000 republican votes cast, and, in that case, it is quite possible christine o'donnell, who was trailing in the polls, badly, before the tea party express ads started, could

actually pull off an upset win and oust the long-standing fixture in delaware republican politics. he has been in congress 20 years and also the governor and lieutenant governor and never lost an election, and, in fact is rarely even had primaries, and this will be only the second one in his whole career. mike castle is on the ropes and recognizes he could get beaten tonight. and christine o'donnell, as the tea party express candidate, could pull off yet another upset. so far, this year, tea party backed candidates have won in 7 big, big races. they'd love to add this one, because as you said, it is joe biden's seat, and symbolically important and numerically crucial to republican hopes of picking up what they need to e win a senate majority. bill: an interesting day and more interesting night tonight, thank you, carl, carl cameron in wilmington, delaware. martha? martha: all the election stories, just a quick point, yesterday we said dick armey and freedom works supported christine o'donnell and what the group said actually is they'll stay neutral in the race and cbs news reported the president of

freedom works said the group sees o'donnell as a weak candidate and they are not convinced that she can win, so we'll have plenty more on this in america's election headquarters as we move forward. california democratic candidate for governor, apologizing to former president bill clinton. attorney general jerry brown is running against republican candidate meg whitman, he's back pedaling after bringing up the monica lewinsky scandal in response to a whitman political ad which shows clinton attacking brown, during their 1992 presidential primary race, and brown wrote off the criticism, saying, quote, clinton is a nice guy and whoever he said he always tells the truth. that is the story about the did he or didn't he... the former president is not commenting on that remark. bill: all right, 19 minutes past the hour, president obama defending his administration's performance on job creation, but that unemployment rate is stubborn and is not going down, and, if jobs are being created, how is that possible?

let's take a closer look at the numbers inside with eric bolling on that, martha. martha: an historic armor on display for everyone to see. details on a museum that is giving us an amazing history lesson, on wars past, and present. you don't want to miss that. bill and i will be right back at "america's newsroom." when i bruo a really mediocre job. i love running my tongue across my teeth and feeling all the stuff i missed. [ male announcer ] no one really wants plaque left on their teeth. done. [ male announcer ] but ordinary manual brushes can leave up to 50% of plaque behind.

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bill: we're at 23 minutes past the hour, 10:00, in new york, a quick check of wall street, treading water at the moment. trying to feel our way through it. we have the jobs numbers in two days, and we'll get a read on what is happening across the country, which brings us now to bya, a lot of question, too, every, single day, because you asked about what is happening with the economy, betty writes in mississippi: if unemployment went from 9.5%, to 9.6%, and the president

claims we created 67,000 private jobs in august, how many jobs did we lose? this doesn't make sense. here to make sense is eric bolling, anchor of "money rocks" on the fox business network. how are you. >> great. bill: confused, every day, it is a bit confusing. >> let's break it down, private sector jobs and government jobs, unfortunately, the jobs that are being created are the government jobs, let's take it one step back. all right, here's how you come up with the rate. people seeking employment, 14.8 million, people looking for jobs on a regular basis divided by the workforce of 154 million and that is 9.6% rate and if you create a few more jobs, and increase the amount of the workforce you can actually increase the rate and if more people are coming back into the job force, looking for jobs, because here it is, guys, this is the big one right here, marginally unemployed an discouraged, when the discouraged workers not looking

for jobs, are not part of the workforce number, when they come back looking for jobs they become part of the workforce and it makes the pool bigger and sets the rate higher. bill: discouraged workers, the category... when they start to feel a little more optimistic about going back to work, and... into discouraged, those who are not actively seeking employment, they are so discouraged, they say i cannot get a job and i'll lie on the couch and watch tv and when things get better i'll jump back in and when they jump back into the pool, looking for jobs, the unemployment rate goes up. bill: those people were not even counted in that figure, 9.5, 9.6%, real rate of unemployment... unemployment and under employment is 17%, 26 million people, either looking for a job, or taking just about any job, that they can take, or, whose hours are cut, in other words, you are used to being a full-time employee and are cut

down to 20, 25 hours because your company cannot afford it you are marginally unemployed. bill: one more question, look at this, quick. >> since the recession government employment is up 10%, or 200,000 people, up, private sector, gown 7%, 7.8 million people, out of work, since the recession started. bill: the point: are we creating jobs today or not? >> the economy is not creating jobs, we are seeing the initial jobless claims which come out thursday morning at 8:30, elevated, 455,000, 425,000 are people applying for unemployment benefits for the first time and the number, for an economy to be creating jobs has to be 300,000. bill: let's change it soon and for the unemployed it cannot happen soon enough. check out eric, every night, wou "money rocks", 8:00 eastern time, on the fox business network.

eric from new jersey writes, if you have a question you want answered, compose an e-mail, form of a question, a click away, hemmer@foxnews.com and twitter, @billhemmer. and martha has a question. martha: i always have a question. i'm martha from new jersey. eric, thanks, a political veteran, facing 13 ethics charges... >> no matter what happens to us we get a hearing, a trial and be judged by our peers, no one will take that away from you. no one will take it away from harlem and you can bet your life, no one will take it away from me. [applause]. >>... so... martha: there you go. we will see, after 40 years in office, charlie rangel is in the political fight of his life, today, can he survive? as voters head to the polls, right now. and, more incredible video of that massive gas pipeline

explosion, in california, look at this woman running guess the street. with her child, all of this video, coming up, here, where else? "america's newsroom." we'll be right back.

martha: we have new polls to show you, hot off the press, fox news opinion dynamics polls, look at nevada, democrat majority leader, harry reid, neck and neck with his republican challenger, sharron angle, that is going to be

interesting, folks. look at the sunshine state. results are interesting, for florida, marco rubio pulling ahead, at 43% now over charlie crist and, kendrick meek at 21% and a lot of people wonder if one of those sides throws support to the other and what might happen and that looks like rubio, at this stage of the game, and, the golden state, barbara boxer, long time senator, from california, of course, is in a very tight race with carly fiorina. that one is one to watch as well and let's go back to pennsylvania, joe sestak, 16 points behind pat toomey now, arlen specter's old spot, and tomorrow at a 47, sestak, 41, everybody from bill clinton and the like has been trying to help sestak with the race, that is a really important one to watch as well, political irony, we might

say in one of the nation's most pivotal primary, as, a 47 year veteran, past meets presents, charlie rangel embroiled in an ethics scandal, facing up against adam clayton powell, iv, the man he mentored from the abage of 19, and son of this man he unseated, adam clayton powell, and, this is an interesting family setup here, eric sean is live in harlem with the latest on this, eric, how is it going? eric: right you arement the irony and the history here, for political junkies is terrific! you have adam clayton powell, iv, the son of the man whose street this is name after, there's a statue of the fiery congressman, adam clayton powell, jr. in front of the state office building named after him and now, adam clayton powell, jr.'s son, adam clayton powell, iv facing today, a

harlem institution, charlie rangel who is beset by ethics problems and the house ethics committee charging him with 13 violations and the 20-term congressman has been in office for 40 years. he voted this morning and said he is hoping the race will not be decided by those folks in washington or the editorial boards but, he said by the the constituents in the 15th congressional district and adam clayton powell also voted and he said it is time for rangel to go and here's what the candidate said this morning: >> constituents decide who they want to represent them in the house of representatives. and i'm hopeful and i'm very positive that i will be returning, and t-- to the president, the congress and the congressional district. >> i'll be doing rangel and the democrats throughout the nation a favor, because, my election

will probably put an end to all of the ethical trials, that mr. rangel now faces. and will probably put an end to republicans being able to use congressman rangel as a punching bag in the november elections. eric: here's a damaging image of congressman rangel on the front pages of the papers in new york city, sleeping on the beach in the dominican republic and has a condo there, one of the allegation against him is he didn't report income from that condo, and that a lingering image from the race and despite that and the issues this morning, when the congressman showed up to vote, there are reports that some of the election workers there may have stood up, and applauded the congressman, an indication of how he is thought of, here in the district despite some of his latest ethics problems. we're live in harlem on 125th street, eric sean, martha, back to you. martha: all right, that will be one to watch, thank you very much, eric sean in the 15th congressional district.

bill: hopping everywhere, a hopping day and president obama delivering the second annual back-to-school speech at a public school in philadelphia today. last year, the president faced heat after parents accused him of bringing politics into the classroom this year, a big difference, coming from a different crowd, wendell goler is live from philadelphia. good morning, wendal. >> reporter: good morning, bill, the continues various, left a political fight and a family feud and last year's back-to-school speech was caught in the toxic battle of health care reform, in part because of a poorly written lesson plan released in advance suggesting kids would be asked to write about how they could help the president achieve his goals and that led parents to say their kids were being socialized and, didn't want them to watch the televised broadcast of the speech and the white house released a copy of the speech in advance, and there was nothing political in it, and the lesson plan was changed to how the kids would achieve their own goals, and this year, once again the white house has released the speech in advance and there.

martha: agai-- is nothing polit in it and, he'll say your fiech is in your hands and your life is what you make of it and nothing is beyond your reach, so long as you are willing to dream big and work hard and meanwhile, his push for education reforms and higher teacher standards led to a kind of family fight with the teachers unions and the national education association, and, the american federation of teachers, which usually supports democrats, the president applauded a rhode island school that fired all of the teachers for poor performance and the nea and afc did not invite him to their annual convention this year and one union official worried the president might be heckled at the speech, but, that said, political analysts say the teachers unions will support democrats in the fall elections, as they always do, 97% of their political contributions go to democrats, and the only real question is, how enthusiastic will be their "get out the vote" campaign, bill?

martha? . bill: hear that loud and clear, wendal goaler, wlive in philly. martha: don't be alarmed if you see a whole lot of tanks down the highway today, a massive convoy involving everything from world war ii artillery to the most sophisticated weapons on earth. a project the military says is vital to the morale of our fighting men and women, alicia acuna is live at fort bliss, texas, and why the big move, alicia? >> reporter: hi, martha, it is part of the defense based realignment enclosure act, the us army's air defense school is moving from fort bliss to oklahoma and the museum moves with it, because part of the school is learning about the history and the heritage, soldiers understand they are not just a soldier today, they are part of something very important and helps build morale. the fun stuff... this is the duster, an anti-aircraft gun from vietnam, and that is moving, and in addition to the sergeant york, a 60 ton

anti-aircraft gun, and -- from the the cold war era and it was never used. because the program was killed, but, still, is a part of history and is being moved, in addition, to 28 other artifacts that will all get on 20 flatbed trucks, and make the move to oklahoma. martha. martha: alicia acuna, it looks fascinating and thanks for bringing it to us. bill: rolling on, huh? 21 minutes before this hour, they were behind bars in iran more than a year and today, one of the american hikers is homeward bound, finally. in a moment, judith miller on whether or not the other two hikers could soon breathe free air. martha: and a group of thieves accused of stealing grand ma's purse, no less, going on a spending spree, with grandma's plastic, how a walmart clerk could have prevented it, but apparently did not. after the break. ♪ ♪ steal away

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